Researchers at Northern Arizona University (NAU) are using microbial sequencing to better understand the causes of airway inflammatory diseases, including chronic rhinosinutsitis and cystic fibrosis. They hope that by studying microbial differences between people with and without airway inflammatory disease, they can identify the microbes that cause infections and replace them. If successful, this type of therapy is hoped to be less costly than existing treatments, and highly effective.
Airway inflammatory disease is an umbrella term that covers a range of different diseases. The researchers at NAU are primarily focusing on chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), but are also looking at asthma and cystic fibrosis. A patient is usually considered to have CRS if they have a sinus infection with inflammation that does not respond to treatment for over twelve weeks. In the U.S. over 16% of adults have been diagnosed with CRS. Symptoms include mucus build-up, breathing difficulties, and pain and swelling around the face. Patients report a significant decrease in quality of life, and every year the disease causes health care costs of approximately $65 billion.
Asthma is also a relatively common condition that causes breathing difficulties, while cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare, inherited disease that creates mucus to build-up in the lungs and digestive system. CF’s symptoms include coughing, frequent chest infections, jaundice, and growing difficulties. The build-up of mucus can also lead to organ damage that causes additional problems, usually linked to digestion. To learn more about CF, click here.
Treatment for all three of these diseases can be complicated, and in the cases of asthma and CF, only addresses the symptoms rather than the underlying cause of the condition. The aim of the lab at NAU to understand the detailed microbial compositions of airways and factors causing these diseases is the first step towards creating more effective therapeutics.
In the case of CRS, the researchers are sequencing microbes in the airways of healthy individuals and comparing them to those with CRS. They then identify the microbes shared by both groups, and use experimental methods to explore how these microbes respond and behave. This research is based on the existing knowledge that many airway inflammatory diseases are linked to changes to the microbiome; the type and numbers of different microbes in the airways. Current research aims to understand these differences in greater detail, so that the microbial links to disease can be used to create treatments.
The lab hopes to include clinical research in the future, with plans to study the effects of fibre supplements on asthma symptoms in children with asthma in Phoenix.
Emily Cope, an assistant professor of microbiology at NAU, says “I anticipate that the next five years will bring advances in our understanding of the ecology of airway disease.”
Do you think that this research will help to tackle airway inflammatory diseases? Share your stories, thoughts, and hopes, with the Patient Worthy community!
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